Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 5: An 8-year old kid hailing from Pulwama’s Murran area is living alone as his parents remain stuck in West Bengal and could not return home after the imposition of lockdown following the outbreak of Coronavirus.
Sharif Farooq’s parents left for West Bengal soon after they were informed that one of their relatives was badly injured in a road accident. They left keeping in mind that they would be back in 10 days.
They left the kid with a person hailing from West Bengal who was residing as a paying guest with the couple. They told him to take care of their child and their house in their absence-Sharif’s mother is originally from West Bengal
“I was worried when I heard that my mother was injured in the accident; I was told that she might not survive; I had initially thought of traveling alone, but the neighbors said that it’s too far and that I should take my husband along,” Shefali, mother of the Sharif told Excelsior over the phone.
The family left for West Bengal on March 6. She said that she would not have come had she known that there will be a complete lockdown imposed across the country. “I am so worried for my child; what would he do alone; back then, we thought that he will do fine, but it is getting worse now,” she said.
Sharif told Excelsior that he misses his parents and wants the Government to bring them back. “I am living, but it is difficult; I want to see my parents,” he said.
Shefali, along with his husband Farooq Ahmad Ganai and a 5-year old daughter, is currently residing in Sundalpur village of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district.
The irony is that the man who was tasked to take care of Sharif has also not been able to earn even a single penny due to the lockdown. “He has no money to feed my son or himself for that matter; neighbors have been helping”, she said.
His parents demand that the Government should facilitate their travel back to Kashmir so that they are reunited with their son. “It really rips me apart when he calls and starts crying. I appeal the Government that they should help us and others like us stranded across the country,” she said.
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